Maybe because Kou Kou wasn’t used to sitting in a walker, his little bottom got a bit chafed, and a small patch on his thighs turned red.

So Grandma Qiao didn’t put him in disposable diapers; instead, she dressed him in split pants to prevent further irritation.

These past few days, Qiao Wanqing noticed that whenever Kou Kou needed to pee, he would start giggling.

To put it poetically, he was “laughing with a hint of pee.”

So, even the foolish son of a landlord isn’t entirely foolish; he also hides his cunning behind foolishness.

When Gu Yanqing lifted Kou Kou high, Kou Kou thought Gu Yanqing was playing with him, so he laughed even more happily, giggling away.

The happier the little guy laughed, the more he exerted himself.

Gu Yanqing, resigned to his fate, was peed on, with some even splashing onto his face.

He couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the situation.

After all, when it’s your own son’s pee, you have to bear it.

And just earlier, because he was feeling a bit warm, he had taken off his jacket, so now he only had a shirt on, which was now soaked through by his son’s pee.

“Are you happy to pee all over Dad?” Gu Yanqing patted Kou Kou’s little bottom and said.

Kou Kou giggled, reaching out his little hand to touch his bottom, but his hand was too short to reach.

Qiao Wanqing reached over and felt Kou Kou’s pants, finding that the little guy himself wasn’t wet at all; it was all directed towards his dad.

Suppressing a smile, she took out two tissues to wipe Gu Yanqing’s face and then picked up Kou Kou.

Luckily, Kou Kou’s pee only seemed to benefit plant growth; otherwise, when Gu wakes up tomorrow, he’ll find his beard has grown a lot thicker than usual.

But if Kou Kou’s pee had an effect on human hair growth, Qiao Wanqing wouldn’t need to farm anymore; she could just sell “Kou Kou’s Pee Pee Shampoo” and get rich, considering how many people suffer from baldness nowadays.

“I’ll go take a shower,” Gu Yanqing said.

Kou Kou’s pee had been quite a stream, mostly ending up on Gu Yanqing.

It wasn’t just on his body; even his face got splashed. If he didn’t wash it off soon, there would be a lingering smell.

Qiao Wanqing said, “It seems I don’t have clothes that you can wear.”

Since Gu Yanqing had been staying at a hotel, he didn’t have clothes with him.

He was about to say it’s okay when Chen Feng could bring something over, but Grandma Qiao interjected, “Didn’t we buy a men’s shirt last time? Should I get it out for Mr. Gu to make do?”

Qiao Wanqing hesitated, “Um… I don’t think it would suit Mr. Gu.”

Upon hearing there was a shirt available, Gu Yanqing said, “It’s fine, I’ll manage with it.”

Grandma Qiao went to fetch the shirt.

It wasn’t that Qiao Wanqing was deliberately saying it wouldn’t suit him; the shirt was just very plain.

It was a long-sleeved white t-shirt that resembled an undershirt, with no shape to speak of.

Originally, Qiao Wanqing had thought of asking her second uncle if he wanted it for working in the fields, but after what happened, the shirt had just been left there untouched.

Gu Yanqing didn’t show any sign of disdain.

He calmly took the shirt and went to the bathroom.

Qiao Wanqing had secretly wondered if someone as stylish as Gu Yanqing would look awkward in such roadside stall-like clothes.

However, when he came out after washing up, far from looking awkward, the plain and design-less shirt somehow made him look handsome and sharp.

Maybe due to its casual style, it even gave him a youthful vibe.

Compared to his usual more conventional appearance, this version of Gu Yanqing seemed more vibrant.

“What do you think? Am I impressing you with my charm?” Gu Yanqing walked over and whispered to Qiao Wanqing, who was holding Kou Kou at the dining table.

Qiao Wanqing looked away, settling Kou Kou down, and said, “Don’t be so self-absorbed.”

Gu Yanqing smiled faintly and didn’t say anything more.

Kou Kou indeed loved cherries.

He mashed them into pulp and could eat several at a time.

When he liked something, he would tug at people’s clothes, mouth open, making sounds like “ah ah” to indicate he wanted to eat. If he didn’t like something, he would purse his lips and turn his head away.

But what gave Qiao Wanqing a headache was that after eating cherries, Kou Kou didn’t want to eat other fruits anymore; he only wanted cherries.

Fortunately, his dad had money, so upon seeing how much he loved cherries, they were specially air-freighted in for him.

“How about planting a cherry tree at the doorstep?” Gu Yanqing suggested to Qiao Wanqing. “When Kou Kou gets older, he can pick them himself.”

Imagining the little guy using a stick to knock cherries off the tree and eat them made him chuckle.

“Can cherry trees thrive here?” Qiao Wanqing remembered that their local climate wasn’t very suitable for growing cherries.

They were expensive locally because they were mostly imported by air from other places.

Gu Yanqing looked at her with a determined gaze. “I don’t know about others, but I believe you can do it.”

Qiao Wanqing paused, unsure how to respond to his confidence.

Seeing her expression, Gu Yanqing seemed to understand something.

After all, last year she had planted quite a few out-of-season vegetables.

Although she stopped after facing suspicions from some people and switched to planting standard seasonal crops.

Gu Yanqing wasn’t foolish; he could selectively forget, but he probably guessed something and hadn’t mentioned it until now.

Qiao Wanqing avoided his gaze. “You’re overestimating me.”

Of course, Gu Yanqing didn’t think he was overestimating Qiao Wanqing.

Despite the out-of-season vegetables being a secondary matter, Gu Yanqing actually didn’t suspect Qiao Wanqing at all.

After all, she had a background in biological engineering and had learned some special planting methods.

Nothing seemed strange about that.

However, ever since “Falling in Love”, Gu Yanqing couldn’t help but look into Qiao Wanqing’s background a bit more.

Her WeChat Moments were locked, only showing updates from the past year, but she forgot about her Weibo account, which she hadn’t deactivated.

On that Weibo account, Qiao Wanqing had once aimed to become an internet celebrity, posting mostly beautiful selfies, some even a bit flirtatious, as if deliberately trying to attract someone.

Gu Yanqing overlooked all of this, knowing that Qiao Wanqing had been that kind of person before.

However, he stumbled upon some older, more normal posts from Qiao Wanqing’s past where she joked about having a natural curse against plants—whatever she planted died.

This seemed quite different from the current Qiao Wanqing.

Combined with Qiao Wanqing’s sudden personality change after becoming pregnant, Gu Yanqing felt there was something here that couldn’t be explained by logic alone.

But since Qiao Wanqing wasn’t willing to talk about it, he decided to pretend he didn’t know.

Like Qiao’s grandmother thought, since the person in front of him was more likable now, why bother dwelling on who she used to be?

…

The Matchmaker Temple was set to open during the Dragon Boat Festival.

Qiao Wanqing had finished decorating her place and needed to focus on other preparations.

She reorganized her vegetable planting plans; her second aunt would still come over during the day to help, and she just needed to hire someone to handle packaging and delivery.

Her main focus was on the vegetarian restaurant—purchasing necessary kitchenware, setting menus and prices, and planning the operational mode.

There would definitely be discounts during the first few days of opening to attract customers, especially since there would likely be quite a few tourists around that time.

She needed to consider staffing, costs, and venue logistics.

And soon, it would be Kou Kou’s first birthday.

Koukou, despite being a big troublemaker, has an impressive dad.

However, he isn’t necessarily smarter than others.

At one year old, his speech is still stumbling, except when his parents speak smoothly.

Even his great-grandmother can’t call him properly; he’s learning to call her “Granny Qiao” like they do.

Apart from that, he can say some single-syllable words like “hit,” “want,” or “go.”

But now, the little guy can finally walk independently, though he’s still unsteady, often giving the impression that he’s about to fall.

Yet somehow, he miraculously manages to stay stable.

However, Koukou doesn’t like walking on his own; he prefers the walking aid his dad bought.

While he walks slowly and clumsily on his own, in the walker, he runs as fast as a wild horse, dominating the yard.

Even Huang Daxian has learned to play with Koukou now, running ahead with his little toys or things Koukou likes, with Koukou chasing after him.

Sometimes Qiao Wanqing seriously suspects that Huang Daxian treats her son like a pet he walks around.

Qiao Wanqing worries that using the walker too much isn’t good for Koukou, so she often encourages him to walk on his own.

Koukou gets upset when she insists, pouting and looking like he might cry, which breaks her heart.

However, Qiao Wanqing is immune to his pitiful expressions by now; she only uses them to trick his dad.

Unfortunately, his dad isn’t always around; being a busy man, he often goes back to the city for work.

But whenever he has free time, he comes over.

Qiao Wanqing doesn’t worry about him anymore.

She knows that Yuan Yuan’s parents have reconciled, and after Yuan Yuan was taken back, everything has settled naturally.

“Koukou, help Mom pick up the ball.”

It’s another day without the walker, and Dad has gone back to the city.

Koukou feels neglected and “forced” to help Mom pick up the ball.

But kids forget quickly.

Seeing his mom encouraging him from a few steps away, Koukou immediately runs over, happily holding up the ball and running towards his mom.

Koukou has very long and beautiful leg bones, clearly destined to be a tall handsome guy in the future.

In books, even villains are described with good looks.

Koukou’s appearance is strikingly similar to Gu Yanqing’s, the typical handsome but sinister type, which has charmed quite a few girls.

Villains often use their looks to their advantage, seducing naive girls into doing bad things for them.

Looking at the naive Koukou, Qiao Wanqing finds it hard to imagine how he could grow up to be such a strange person.

When Koukou runs, his little feet move incredibly fast.

He rushes up to Qiao Wanqing and stops a couple of steps away, then throws himself at her.

Qiao Wanqing snaps out of her reverie and catches him just in time.

“Mommy.” Koukou hands her the small ball he’s holding. “Here.”

Koukou’s “here” means he’s giving it to her.

Qiao Wanqing kisses his face, full of hope for praise.

She compliments him a couple of times, then notices his bracelet has come loose and quickly fastens it again to prevent it from falling off.

The bracelet is a handmade jade bracelet that Gu Yanqing bought for her.

It’s part of a set with a Hetian jade pendant.

Qiao Wanqing worries that Koukou might accidentally strangle himself with it while sleeping, so she hasn’t let him wear it at night yet.